LISTEN/READ: Eastern Premier League victory for Benoni Northerns Cricket Club
The Benoni boys have done it.
When their backs were against the wall, and after a tough few weeks, Benoni Northerns Cricket Club’s (BNCC) Premier XI proved this past weekend that they were not done and dusted.
The team, who let a 10-point lead slip and then found themselves in second position in the Eastern Premier League at the conclusion of the league stage of the competition following three consecutive losses against Kempton Park, Alberton and Actonville Spurs, were required to play a play-off semi-final fixture against the third-best team rivals, Kempton Park, on March 16 at Willowmoore Park.
The winner of that match would then have to play for the league title against the number one side, Alberton, at Willowmoore Park on March 17.
The matches were moved from the Willowmoore main oval to the C-Field to preserve the oval for Thursday’s scheduled Momentum One-Day Cup match between the Multiply Titans and bizhub Highveld Lions.
That proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Benonians, who have not had great joy on the main oval in finals in recent years.
On Saturday, the team pulled off a nerve-wracking one-wicket victory against their nemesis side, Kempton Park, to book their spot in Sunday’s final.
BNCC skipper Kurt Francis won the toss and elected to bat first.
His bowlers performed well on the morning, bowling out their rivals for 166 runs in 46.4 overs despite a valiant 72 runs from stalwart Kempton player Johan Fourie.
Phumelelo Masetlane was the main man with the cherry for BNCC.
He bagged excellent stats of 4/27 in 10 overs while quick opening bowler Kundai Matigimu (3/33 in 8.4 overs) and Stefano di Bartolomeo (2/27 in 10 overs) contributed well to the cause.
In their reply with the bat, BNCC were staring down the barrel at 158/9.
It was looking like another defeat for coach Nicolaos Moragemos’ men, but young WP Myburgh had other ideas.
He held firm with an important 29 not out from 42 deliveries to get across the line.
Myburgh found himself needing two runs to off the final delivery of the match to win the game.
He did just that, hitting a boundary off the last ball to book his team’s spot in the final the next day.
On Sunday, BNCC were again good with the ball.
Francis won the morning toss again and his bowlers did a sterling job once more.
They wrapped up Alberton for 154 runs in 35.4 overs with Myburgh doing most of the damage with the ball for BNCC.
His leg spin accounted for four Alberton scalps (4/32 in 7.4 overs) while Matigimu was also in the mix again with figures of 2/33 in eight overs.
In their reply with the bat, Northerns managed to chase down the target in 31.1 overs with six wickets in hand.
Young opening batsman Musawenkosi Twala played a calm 46 not out from 77 deliveries while Rian van der Merwe did the aggressor work with an innings of 48 runs from 53 balls before he was caught out.
That ensured a comfortable play-off victory for Francis and his team, who will now play the University of Pretoria (Tuks) in another play-off semi-final on March 23 for a chance to advance to the final the following day and represent the Titans franchise at Cricket South Africa’s National Club Championships in April.
The venue was yet to be announced at the time of going to press, but the possibility of Northerns hosting the game at home in Benoni was high.
Sunday’s victory was Francis’ third league victory as BNCC skipper.
It also ensured that the club had won five league titles out of the nine league competitions they were entered into in the 2018/2019 Eastern Cricket Union campaign.
The Premier Reserve XI, Saturday Third XI, Women’s XI and Legends XI all won their leagues.
LISTEN to the Weekend Sports Wrap on Caxton Radio with Logie G featuring BNCC skipper Kurt Francis:
https://soundcloud.com/benoni-city-times/logie-gs-weekend-sports-wrap-monday-march-18
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